Smile….you could be on video surveillance in Saugeen Shores soon.
A video surveillance policy report was presented to Committee of the Whole on March 22nd.
Mayor Luke Charbonneau says the idea is to put up the cameras in hot spots.
According to the report, some named spots include the Port Elgin Cenotaph, which has had a camera installed for several years.
Other spots considered are the Port Elgin Airport and the Saugeen Rail Trail Memorial Park in Southampton.
Councillor Dave Myette is uneasy with cameras being put up in the community.
He says “The feeling of being watched and monitored by the continuous gaze of video surveillance, may have a chilling effect on law-abiding individuals, causing them to alter their behaviour and limit their expression of their rights.”
Myette says Saugeen Shores isn’t some big city with the possibility of big crime problems.
He says the municipality is a small one with neighbours taking care of each other.
The policy was sent back to administration to tighten up some wording and will be brought back in the future, when it’s expected to pass with a pilot program beginning later this year.
